


Five Years Later

by Kintsukuroi



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Young Justice
Genre: Birdflash - Freeform, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-19
Updated: 2014-09-03
Packaged: 2018-01-19 22:51:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1487062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kintsukuroi/pseuds/Kintsukuroi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wally West appears after five years of being... disappeared. Where was he? What took him? What will he do now?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. That Drone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be a long, slow moving story that will update irregularly. I have a sort of random schedule so I type when I can. Thanks for reading.

"Batman to Nightwing" 

"Go ahead" Nightwing responded, he had had a busy night and turned his mic off to yawn. 

"I need to see you at the Cave immediately." He sounded serious. 

"I'll be there soon. Should I assemble the others?"

"No. Just you." 

"Is the the Bragini Case?" 

"Just get here." 

It wasn't the Bragini Case, apparently. Nightwing ran across the rooftops to where he kept his motorcycle. He sped through town to the pick up location. Things had been changed. Security increased. He jumped the dock and landed in the transport that had moved itself into position. It closed as he lept into the driver seat and keyed in his security. Two minutes to the Cave. He'd never been a fan of this vehicle. Being underwater in it seemed precarious to him. It was small and mostly glass,. He preferred being able to move, thus the bike. 

He parked it and exited. Batman was waiting for him, sort of. Bruce had removed the cowl, gloves, and cape. He had replaced them with a surgical mask and gloves. "Tim?" Getting hurt was in the job description, but Nightwing wasn't sure either of them could take losing another Robin. 

"No. I need to you come look at something." he lead him towards the back. Where the medical facilities were. They stopped before the observation room. "I found him on patrol today. He shot through a building and took out two floors. Superman and Flash had to assist in stabilizing it." 

"Who?" Nightwing so badly wanted to crane his neck around Batman. Batman could see it.

"Focus. He has yet to wake up, he sustained injury either before or after colliding with the building."

After a moment of silence Batman walked the six steps to get them in front of the window. Tall, Pale, red-haired. It was Wally West. 

"There's no way." Nightwing said. 

"That is what I thought. I have anti-shape shifting protections in place in case."

Nightwing swallowed. "He just appeared and went through a building?"

"As if he'd been shot from a cannon. He went right through it. He has a broken hip but it's healing rapidly." 

"You've done X-rays? Let me see." Nightwing walked back towards the medical room. Sure enough the X-Rays were up. "If it's not him... It's an amazing replica."

"The heel?" 

"Yeah. I'm guessing Barry has the same..." 

"Repeated stress fractures. They heal so quickly they don't even feel them." 

"There's also this." He pointed to the X-Ray of the guy's left arm. "He was trying to learn to vibrate through things. He got his ulna stuck in a metal bar and it left that mark. We never recorded it. He'd had three or four espressos against Flash's recommendations... He didn't want to get in trouble."

"Flash already examined him. He is connected to the Speed Force. He was seizing when we moved him here. Rapidly." 

"He's been gone nearly five years. Why would he show up here?" Nightwing was shaking a bit. A couple stray thoughts came to him. He'd been close with Wally. Wally had said, on turning 21, that he would be the one to talk Dick to his first bar (Where they would drink and not interrogate anyone.) That opportunity had passed 2 years ago. Dick was gearing up to turn 24 in a few months. 

"He should be twenty six. He doesn't look like he has changed at all though." Nightwing said, having turned back to the window. He was closer now. Wally's good leg started twitching, bending rapidly at the knee.

"No... All signs point to him being exactly as he was when he disappeared. There was a 20 minute delay between him arriving and taking samples, but he still had the signs of an incredibly stressful run. The suit he was wearing was the same as when he left and had not decayed at all as clothes worn for five years can be expected to."

"What are we going to do with him?" Nightwing asked. He wanted to go in. See if he could wake him. It wasn't that he hadn't thought of Wally in a long time. It was just that his life had moved on and Wally had no future, until now.

"He is staying here. The League knows but don't tell the rest of your team. We don't know what this is, yet." Nightwing nodded in response.

"He'll need to be under observation. I'll stay here" Dick said. "If he wakes I'll get you up." Batman stared at him a moment. It was almost morning. "I work this afternoon so I can't be here then. I know where the cot is." 

Batman finally turned and left the room. He could pick his arguments. 

The shower on the other side of the wall turned on. He heard doors opening and closing down the hall as Batman went about his morning routine before catching a few hours sleep. Then it was quiet. Dick took his mask off. His boots. His gloves. He pulled the cot down from the wall where it folded up and laid down.

A heart monitor must have been on Wally because Dick slowly became aware of that droning tone mixed in with the others. It wasn't a drone. It was a rapid beeping. It was keeping him from resting. He sat up. Laid down. Stretched. Stood. Paced. Paced on his hands. And partook in almost every nervous habit Batman thought he'd trained out of him. The monitor that had kept him from sleep finally did something. The "400" beside the pulse rate dialed down to "350." Was that good? Bad? He remembered when they'd run tests at their base. Wally had been curious.... He stood up and leaned into the machine. There it was. In the corner of the display there was a small "x10." 3000 sounded right. Resting. Sleeping it had been much lower. He supposed it was elevated then. He felt a hand grab his arm. Not sleeping.

He turned slowly, trying to not discourage the hand. 

"Whoa. Dick. You're... tall." He sighed. 

"Wally, do you know where you are?" 

Wally looked around, taking everything in quickly. "Batcave." 

As far as he knew, Wally hadn't actually been in the Batcave. "How'd you know?" 

"You're half in costume and that thing's" he nodded to the monitor and its noise "made with speedsters in mind. Has to be the Batcave. Where's everyone?"

"No one knows you're here. I have to call Batman. Don't" he paused and held up a finger for emphasis "fall asleep." He grabbed the phone. "Alfred. Uh. Thanks. Bring down breakfast for two plus a speedster. Yeah. I was going to get him. If he's actually asleep let him lay for a couple more hours. Yeah. I'll tell him." 

He hung up the phone and turned to Wally. "You just showed up five hours ago. We haven't told anyone." 

"Showed up? So you are older? Not just me being dizzy from the lack of food you so thoughtlessly forgot to have waiting for me?" He said with a strained chuckle. 

"Yeah. Buddy, your disappeared. You seemed to know it was happening... Do you-"

"Remember? Not a thing. I remember I was running. I wasn't keeping up and then I was flying through the air." 

Dick reached down and put a hand on Wally's shoulder, rocking him a bit while he thought. 

Wally was squinting at him "Three years? Five? It's obviously been... a while." 

"Good guess. Five years." Dick grinned a bit. "You missed my 21st." 

"What's Artemis doing? Will you call her?" Dick's face fell. Wally stopped talking and bit his lower lip. A lot could happen in five years.

"Wally. Why don't you just relax, you've been through a lot. I can explain later." 

"I feel fine. I feel... like i've been for a run. I need a shower and my joints hurt a bit-"

"Probably from the building you destroyed."

"-and that would explain it. And most importantly, I am literally starving over here. I can feel it." he whined. "Can we please call Artemis?"


	2. The Last Five Years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so everyone knows, I have a bad habit of doing all my writing between midnight and three. I will try to come back in the mornings and re-read them. Early-morning me hates the rest of me.

There was a short, polite knock on the door. It opened gently. Alfred stood there, both hands on a tray. Dick had asked before how he did that, but Alfred never told. 

Today's breakfast was a bit different. In the center were somewhat thin pancakes. A plate each of eggs, sausage, bacon, gravy, biscuits and diced potatoes finished it off. Dick was greatful for the meal's simpleness.

The portions were what Alfred would serve for the entire family. "Aw man." Wally groaned "Thank you. I love you. You know that?" 

Alfred looked at him for a minute before putting the tray on the bedside table. Dick got in there and go himself a helping of egg wrapped in pancake. "All yours."

"I will wake Master Bruce in a couple of hours."

"Thanks Alfred." 

He let Wally start in on the food before he spoke again. "Ok, Uh. Catching you up. Artemis is married now. She's stayed out of crime fighting." he knew that was the one Wally wanted to hear the most. And the information he least wanted to hear. It was just hours ago, for him, that they were in love and looking at a future together. "He's a good man. She had a hard time giving you up." Wally hadn't stopped eating, but that didn't really mean anything. 

"Conner kept in school. He and Superman are on really good terms now. It's had rough patches, but they get along. He can fly now. In space, too. It was just a matter of time, I guess. Kaldur has a really prestegious position at the palace. He visits every couple months when the bay isn't frozen and he has time." 

"Megan has a long-term boyfriend who she still hasn't told... She's had a hard time of it since Conner and her split. She's living as a more-or-less full time human." 

Wally got his mouth empty long enough for a quick "That doesn't sound healthy."

"Justice League has been good. Everyone's been good."

"What about your love life? You've always been so lame." Wally laughed. "Remember, we had a bet?" 

Dick felt a bit tense. By all appearances, Wally was completely unbothered by the fact he'd missed five years. It felt almost uncomfortable to talk about that with Wally now. 

"I won. I won't make you pay up though." 

The door opened again. It was Batman. The plan of 'let the guy sleep so I can get wally caught up in private' had been scrapped. Dick didn't want to think about the fact Bruce had woken up and immediately got back into full gear. Wally noticed too.

"Hey, you didn't have to get all dressed up for little ol' me."

Batman didn't look amused when he said "Flash is on his way." 

Wally smiled, as though it had just occurred to him "How are my parents?" He was looking forward to seeing them, despite everything they could be. Batman turned away to do something at his computer.

"They, well they were devastated when you disappeared. We all thought you were dead. It was hard..." Dick trailed off. He moved his jaw back and forth, for it had become stiff. "They divorced about a year later. Your father moved to California and forbid any of us from contacting him again." Wally got a really bothered look about him. He could feel where this was going. He knew Dick's tone. Five years WAS a long time. Dick turned and sat on the side of the bed, as close to Wally's leg as he could get. "Your mother was in an accident three years ago. Freak accident."

Wally bit the inside of his cheek and looked hard at him. His look said it all. "Get it over with. Say it." Dick couldn't. He shook his head. Time slowed down for Wally while he waited. He went to count seconds, but they were taking too long to come and go. Time returned to normal every time Dick opened his mouth and slowed to a crawl when it shut again. It was as though the man had developed a new, terrible super power.

"She's gone Wally." He finally said. They took identical breaths for different reasons. 

There was a knock at the door and a head popped in. Flash. 

"Uncle Barry!" Wally shouted, almost jumping up. Dick put an arm over his legs and pinned him as gently as he could. And that was it. Wally broke down in sobs at the contact. The fact that was "five years" hit him. Dick felt the now-younger man cling to his chest. Dick looked around. Wally's heart rate spiked but the monitor couldn't be heard over the loud, anguished sobs. Barry noted it but didn't look too concerned. He walked over and patted Wally's back. Batman kept to his work. They tried to give Wally as much privacy as the situation allowed. Batman turned most the monitors off, drew a glass of water and placed it near them. He was the only one really free to move.

"I'm ok." Wally sat back up, his hands over his face. "I'm ok. I'd already.... I'd thought that. When you said five years. I thought of every horrible thing you could tell me." Barry nodded and passed him the water. He apparently understood. Dick stayed sitting there. The whole room was quiet. "I need to get up and move around."

Batman finally turned back around. He had that special grimace on his face that Dick had only seen a couple times before. "I need to X-ray your hip before you move around too much." he said. "It was broken last night when you shot through a building."

"It feels fine." Wally said. He was shaking with the effort to not get up. 

"The X-Ray will take just a minute." Batman leaned over the head of the bed and brought the portable X-Ray down before putting the bed flat. "Just lay flat." Wally complied. Batman got three quick images. "If you really feel fine, you can stand up and walk around the room." he said. With that he left to review the images.

Barry left with Batman "I should have a look too. Illstallhim." No one could call Barry unobservant.

Wally stood. He could feel what they meant. His hip was a little sore, but it felt sturdy. "I just need to move. I can't hold still. Dick, what am I going to do? I can't go live with my dad. I've missed five years. I should be twenty six years old. I think I am now the youngest member on the team" he stood up straighter and then sagged "But there is no more team." Dick moved to a chair near Wally. His best friend was flip-flopping through every emotion and Dick could do nothing. "Where am I going to go, Rob?"

"Well I was hoping you'd stay with me a while. Until you get back on solid ground. I can tell you now, Batman will want you to stay here." He looked up at the camera in the corner. It had a microphone.

"He can hear us?" Wally pointed out seeing where he was looking.

"I don't care. I think I can convince him to let you stay at my penthouse with me." 'I hope Batman is listening,' he thought 'because I can't take Wally back to my shitty little apartment.' He trusted Bruce would arrange them nicer accommodations. He'd been offering for years. Every time Dick's heat went out, or his water, or the time his neighbor flooded his bedroom, or when the place had to be sprayed for dog-sized roaches. That wasn't an exaggeration, but it had been Bane's fault. The whole area had been infested and it lead to them finding his hide-out. 

"We can make this work." 

"No, We can't. I mean, what did you say about Wally West. Ok. It's easy enough to go back to Kid Flash. No one really knew who he was. We were covert, you know, mostly... But Wally is, I'm guessing, dead. I mean, someone had to tell my college. The license bureau. There had to have been.... a funeral I would hope." He picked up his goggles and twirled them in his hand.

"Yeah. We can handle all that. We made something up." Dick shrugged and looked guilty.

Wally turned. He was kind of curious about that. 

"What did you say?" It wasn't every day you got to hear your own cause of death.

"Well, Jason had just come back when it happened. Kind of. It's really complicated. We didn't really know what happened to you and you were disappeared so... We said you went missing in Central City. You were declared dead when we threw a suitcase of your stuff in a river last year. We made it look good. Your face was all over local news for a couple weeks." 

"That's a lot of work....." Was all Wally could manage. Dick sat there a moment, quiet, then reached into one of the medical drawers and pulled a batarang out. "Sorry Bat" He flung it at the camera in the corner.

"To be perfectly honest, I hated it. You're still my best friend. It was really hard. I wanted to tell people what you did. Of course, in my normal life I supposedly never knew you. You were all over TV. There were billboards with your face on it. For a long time I was so bitter that no one would ever know the things you did.." Dick shifted awkwardly in his seat. Sitting in costume in the Batcave being this honest felt a lot like swimming in pudding. It just felt wrong. "I want to do everything I can to help you." 

"I'm not even sure what you could do. I mean, I think I should stay with you. I thought Barry first but... I'm not a kid and I want to see him plenty but I don't think I want someone hovering around me. Him and my aunt..." 

"I'll get Batman to let you stay with me, but until he agrees, you're going to have to put up with here. He's still-"

"Not sure I'm me? Yeah. I could tell when he had the Suit on at eight in the morning." 

Batman came back in as if he'd known he was being talked about. "It looks like you need to go slow for a day or two, but Barry thinks based on yesterday's X-Ray and today's that you should be in top form by the weekend. I think it's a good idea for you to stay with Dick." There was a distinct pause "At his penthouse." Barry chuckled hearing that. "Alfred is making arrangements for him to move in with you." Batman wasn't done. "You will follow up with Black Canary. I think she is best suited to helping you make the transition." Batman was doing what he did best. He was arranging everyone and everything. He left the emotional stuff to everyone else. For all the things he could do, he didn't feel qualified in that area. 

Wally just listened, pacing. Not even pacing. He was just moving.

"Anything you'd like to know?" Batman asked. 

"When's lunch? I'm starving." Wally said. He stared at the floor. All the information was too much for him. He decided to focus on the basics. His brain caught up on all the trains of thoughts he had gone down and it was all just hitting him. He didn't remember life being this way before he became a Flash.

He could practically feel them exchange looks as he sat on the floor and rubbed his face. "And I need to shower." He mumbled. 

"I'll show you." Dick said. He went to the door, gave Batman a look and waited a moment. Wally followed. It was just around the corner. "Towels are in that closet, the water tanks are a thousand gallons so take your time. I'll get you some of my clothes. To use the showe-"

"I know how to use a shower." 

"Ok. On your own then. I'll say I told you so when you get out." Dick smiled and stepped out of the shower room. He heard the shower kick on and a yelp. 

He went up the stairs to his room. Sweater. Shirt. Slacks? Sweatpants? He grabbed both and some underwear before heading back down. He had a bit of a private laugh when he realized these would probably be too big on Wally. It'd always been the other way around. With Dick wearing Wally's over-sized shirts when he had none left of his own. 

"Wally, did you get the shower working?" The door to the shower had been closed, but it no longer sounded like it was on Batman's "murder-massage" setting.

"How many jets does this thing have? It almost blasted me across the room when it came on."

"Told ya so. I think it has, like, 20."

"Batman apparently likes it rough." There was a moment of silence between them.

"Dude. I can't believe you just said that. I'm leaving clothes here. I'm going to go bang my head against things in the weight room until I forget what you said." 

"Wait. Dick. Is there a camera in here?"

"No, but there's a mic."


	3. Settle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I go through and revise a lot. I don't know how AO3 feels about that but too bad. If you see any glaring errors, tell me. Also, I will be changing a couple facts about how that episode went, you may have noticed already.

"This is where you've been living?" Wally asked. Dick looked around, trying not to be impressed. Batman had done an excellent job making the place look lived-in enough to fool Wally.

"Yeah. It's pretty nice. There's beer in the fridge I think. Remember, you have to relax for a few days. I need to get ready for work." he said. 

"You work?" 

"As a cop." 

"Didn't expect that." Wally said. He was walking around the penthouse at what he probably assumed to be a leisurely place. He opened and closed every drawer. "Candy Drawer" he called out, snagging one. They were Dick's favorite, but Wally didn't discriminate. He looped back around for a second one before continuing to the bedrooms. "Your room's a mess."

"Yeah. I work a lot." Dick replied. 

Dick walked into his room and saw his bed. It hit him how tired he was. He sighed and went to get his uniform. He was on desk duty today... He'd be fine.

Wally had wandered into another room. He was strangely silent. Dick pulled his work clothes out of the closet. These ones appeared to have been pressed. Dressed. Shoes on. Face washed, better than nothing. A lot of deodorant, because he hadn't thought to shower after patrol the night before. He went to Wally's room.

Two finger knock. Loud enough to be heard, low enough to let him sleep if he was.

"Come in." 

"Hey, I have to go to work. I can't miss, but I have the weekend off so...." Wally was messing with a cell phone that had been left for him. "My number in there?"

"Yeah. And Bruce's, Barry's, Alfred's, Seven.... eight local food places" he chuckled at that. "Couple emergency numbers. Including one called 'Emergency.' League, you think?" 

"Cool. Let me put my work number in. If you really need me, I can get out of it." Wally handed his phone over. There were other things on the dresser. Dick saw a bank card, Wayne Enterprises. A laptop. A fake ID. It was a start.

"Ok. Call if you need me. I work about 20 minutes away from here." He picked up the bank card. "This'll have a thirty something thousand dollar limit. Order in." The idea of thirty grand worth of chinese made Wally laugh. "We'll go out tomorrow and finish it off." 

Wally rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine, man. Just go to work already." he said. 

Dick decided to let the tone get serious "Will you?"

"Yeah. I'm cool. I'm not... happy... but I'm cool." Wally shrugged and flopped back down on his bed, one hand up. "Phone. I am totally ordering in." 

Dick handed it back and left the room. "I'll be back by nine if the cheif doesn't hate me. Don't stay up though."

With that, Dick was gone. Wally planned his night. Chinese. Then researching all the things he missed the last five years. And then Pizza. He called the place in his phone as "Chinese Delivery." and ordered. He even went the extra mile and asked for a soup for Dick. "Where deliver to?" The guy on the other end of the phone asked. He half thought Chinese Delivery places put the accent on to seem authentic because there was no way every single place had someone ask that and... He didn't know where he was. 

"One minute." He ran to the kitchen and tried to find some mail. All these addresses were in Bludhaven. This penthouse was definitely not there. He had thirty seconds left before his minute was up. He ran outside the building as quickly as he could. "6122 North Main Street. We're in uh." He realized he hadn't looked at the number of house he was in. To the mailbox. Grayson. In neat type... But it was different from the others. "Seventy-fifth floor. Penthouse, duh. Top floor. Haha. I guess you'll have to use the elevator." 

He hung up and messed with the phone a bit. Finally he got to texting "Dick, did you just move here? I'm talking "last-night" just?" He sent it. He didn't know if he should be angry, flattered, or embarrassed. Did Dick not want him to see his actual house? Did they get this place just because of him? It'd be a massive undertaking to move and make the place look lived-in in under a day. Why would they try to fool him? He watched his phone for a couple long seconds and headed back to their floor. He'd run down the stairs before. He figured he could handle running back up. He really doubted anyone used the stairs here. Each floor was rented, or owned perhaps, by a different last name. 

He made it to the sixtieth floor before his side began to hurt and by the time he got to their floor his leg hurt. He got his laptop and limped to the living room. He turned on the television, which came down in front of the large windows that let them view the entire city. It was obscenely large. 

He looked up the Justice League and individuals. Chinese came. He set about ordering pizza for dessert. He started in on the "Big Fat Quiz of the Years" for each year. He ran the video as fast as the computer would go. The video distorted but it wasn't all that important. He paused it as his phone went off. It was Dick. Just the word "Busted." A few minutes passed "I'll explain later." He finished the five Quizzes in two hours. He still had most a Pizza in front of him. He was actually kind of really full. He laid back on the couch. It'd been a long day... and Dick had said to not stay up. Was six too early to go to sleep? Wally decided the answer was no. 

Dick went through his work as quickly as possible. Come nine, he didn't want to have any reason to stay. Wally had apparently figured out that he didn't live there. Or hadn't before today. He hadn't responded to the text, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Nine came around and he was let go, after a short argument with the cheif. His work was done, there was no reason to keep him.

The twenty minute ride to his new home dragged on compared to his three minute ride before. He wanted sleep. He needed to explain to Wally why he'd moved. He needed a bath. He had a lot of things to do before he could get any rest. He made it home and went for the elevator. It was a small, private elevator, a benefit of having the top floor. It opened up to the "front" door of their home. 

He unlocked it and stepped in. First thing he saw was Wally, one leg hanging off the couch. He was asleep. Dick went to the bathroom and started the tub filling. He found the towels and his clothes. He stripped down quickly and dropped his uniform in the washer. It'd get cleaned sometime before Monday. He had the weekend off. 

He got in the tub. He was glad for it's size. He could spread out. The one in Bludhaven had been small. He laid back and scrubbed everything he could reach. That'd be good enough. His legs probably weren't dirty. He drained the water and let it refill around him. It was probably the laziest he'd been in years. He focused on floating and breathing for longer than he should have. Soon he couldn't remember why he'd opted against a penthouse in the first place. It was quiet. No neighbors. No road noise. Bruce, or more likely Alfred, had picked the best place they could get in the city. 

There was a knock at the door. "Dude, you've been in there like an hour." Wally's voice came through the door.

"One minute." He sat up and started the water draining. "Use my bathroom. By my bedroom." He needed to get out anyway. 

He dried and dressed himself. Wally was on the couch again, but not sleeping.

"Ok, so... Why did you lie about this place?" Wally's face was as neutral as he could keep it.

"Honestly, because my other place is a peice of shit." Dick shrugged. "I never even let Bruce go there. I mean, I am sure he's been there. He's... him... but I would never take him." 

"Oh. I was worried... I thought- It's stupid." Wally said. 

"Tell me." Dick relaxed back onto the chair. 

"I don't know. I thought you didn't want me to know where you lived or something like that." 

"No. No. Wally. Of course you'd go there. I can show you the place when we go out tomorrow. There isn't enough room for two. I need to get all my Nightwing stuff anyway. You can help me carry it." he said, kicking at Wally's nearest leg, but missing. 

Wally laid down on his side. "Of course I'd go there." He chuckled weakly. "Man. I'm so messed up. It feels like... yesterday. I mean, it was just yesterday. We were a team. I was going to do my normal running schtick and go home to Artemis and see my parents and you and I were going to go out to that club.... You probably don't even remember-"

"I remember. Club Polish."

"Ok, well you remember. I feel like something wrong with me. One moment everything is all normal. I feel fine and the next moment I want to scream and run as far as I can." He rolled on his back. "I want to talk to everyone-"

"You'll be able to. Clark texted me-"

"Shut up." Wally responded, more begging than anything else. He just wanted to rant. "I want to talk to everyone. I want to see everyone. This'll sound stupid but I miss my mom. I leave for a couple hours and she's gone. I mean. What am I going to do really? I have nothing left. Oh god. My debts when away when I 'died' like my student loans. Do I have to take those back? Can I stay dead?" He laughed bitterly at the thought. 

Dick looked at him and chewed his lip. 

"Have some of the pizza, it's good." Wally said, stretching one leg out to push the box in Dick's direction. Dick had to sit up and grab it as it went to fall off the table. 

"Thanks." 

"And you can talk. I'm just freaking out." 

"Well, Clark texted me. Apparently Conner heard you were back when Bruce was informing everyone. He disappeared five hours ago." 

"He hasn't been here." Wally shrugged.

"Actually he has been. Apparently Clark found him outside your window."

"That's creepy." Wally said. It wasn't the first time Conner had watched people sleep. He'd always had a bad habit of staring when people did ordinary things. They'd all resigned themselves to the fact he would never grow out of it.

"You were the first person he really lost. It had a huge effect on him." Dick said. "It did on all of us. You probably wouldn't even believe it." 

"Nah. I'm just about the best. What's there not to believe?" Wally said. 

"Well. I am exhausted. I hate to leave you alone again, but if I'm going to be at all useful tomorrow I need sleep now." Dick said. 

"Not doing endurance training again? I remember one time you stayed up what, four days and nights?"

"Yeah. Batman and I were having a contest. He ended up putting me back in bed after that and falling asleep himself. Alfred put us on 36 hours bedrest after. He makes this horrid... soup when he wants to punish us. It's like boiled cauliflower with the worst meat ever and... It's just bad. I'll have him make you a bowl sometime." 

"I've eaten worse. I can't always be choosey. Go to bed, man."

Dick grinned, finished his pizza, stretched and left. They could really get down to it tomorrow.


	4. Texts

"Dick?" Wally's voice came. The room was still dark. It had to be the middle of the night. Wally stood in his doorway, illuminated by the hall light. "Dick, I can't sleep." 

Dick sat up and stared at him "What's the matter?" he scratched his head. It was four in the morning. 

"Well, you said Conner had been by to watch me sleep. Now I feel eyes all over me. This place is seriously lacking curtains." He said. "Even the main bathroom has a window."

"Why were you trying to sleep in the bathroom? It's just Conner. You know how he is--- and Superman said he'd keep him busy until we were ready to have him over. He's probably off-world at this point." Dick's brain wasn't working at full capacity. He'd developed a caffeine habit that no one could match, not even Batman. He felt like he should be main-lining the stuff. 

Wally slumped in the doorway. "Do you have like... a stapler or something?" 

"You're not stapling anything to your window."

"Just for one night!"

Dick sighed heavily. 

"Can't you just pull the blankets over your head?" his tone was pure exasperation.

"Nope. Tried that. I'm going to sleep in your bathroom."

"Wally. You're not sleeping in my bathroom." 

"Fine." Wally left the doorway. Dick wished he could have said it was the most bizarre exchange he'd ever had, but it really wasn't. Not even a contender for the "four in the morning" category. 

He heard Wally go back to his room and some chattering on the phone. He laid back down. He had a feeling he would regret being so mean in the morning, but now he was tired. 

He was just drifting back off when he heard the front door open and close and two voices. When one of the voices didn't go away, he knew it wasn't delivery. He pulled himself out of bed, thankful he'd decided on pajama bottoms and his years of physical activity. He wasn't sure he could navigate a shirt right now. 

He almost groaned aloud when he saw Conner and Wally talking. Well, Wally was talking. Conner was staring at him. Conner always had that unsure way about him. Whether he didn't know if what he was seeing was actually there. He'd talked to Dick about it a number of times. It probably had something to do with the whole first-memories-are-implanted-images-and-punching-stuff thing. He was doing better with it the last couple years, but now he looked like his brain was broken.

Dick flopped sideways into his seat, legs over one arm, neck on the other. He watched them. They turned to him and Wally waved. He went back to talking. He was asking perfectly ordinary questions, well, for them. As though he'd gone on vacation and missed something. Conner just stared. 

"What are you looking at dude?" 

"Uh, everything." Conner said. 

"Conner, I'm me. Batman already gave me a clean bill of Wally. I'm Grade-A, 100% Wally."

Conner reached up and gave him a light shove in the chest. Wally was fast enough to not stumble and returned the gesture. Conner didn't budge, Wally just bounced off. "Huh. No one knows how you got here?" Conner's eyebrows went together. 

"Nope. And I don't remember anything." 

They moved to the bar stools in the kitchen. Dick stared at the wall where they had been. He was in an early morning daze.

"He looks like he should have stayed in bed." Conner said. Dick didn't bother to acknowledge it. 

"Yeah. I guess it's my fault. Asking me to wait is like asking water to not be wet." 

"That's exactly what Superman said about me."

They talked for three hours, but Dick didn't know. He fell asleep in his chair. 

Conner stood up as the clock neared Eight "I have class in twenty minutes... I have your number." He looked over to where Dick was "It's a good thing he's flexible."

"Ha. Yeah. He'll probably still have a stiff neck."

Conner nodded. "Any of these windows open?" He asked, looking towards them, and then started walking towards them. He walked purposefully and Wally was half sure he was going to walk straight through it when... the window slid open. Wally blinked. He hadn't noticed there was a sliding door there. It looked like any of the other windows when it slid back shut. Conner waved back at him and leapt straight into the air. Wally went to see. Huh. He really could fly. That was new.

Wally had a quick shower and finished off the pizza. Dick moved from the chair to the bed, leaving only a note "If you wake me before ten you'll not be feeling the 'aster" It only made a little sense, but it got the point across. 

Wally messed with his phone. Conner had apparently told Roy, who had texted him. By ten, word was well and truly out. Megan, Billy, Zatanna, Roy, Bart, and Red Tornado had written him. Phones had improved in five years, these ones could almost keep up. Most the messages were heartfelt but basic. "We have to meet up. When are you available?" Red Tornado had sent his favorite "It is good to hear you are not dead." He hadn't responded to the "Thanks." 

Artemis hadn't written though. Maybe she wasn't in contact with anyone. But surely she still talked to Roy, and Roy would write her. She had to know. He tried to work it out in his head. She was married now. Maybe he knew about Wally and they'd fought. Maybe she'd left him on the spot and was on her way and forgot to write. Maybe he could get her address off Batman and have a jog over there and sweep her off her feet like last time. Every greedy thought of how they could find their pay back together passed through his head. 

Ten thirty rolled around and he heard movement from Dick. He heard a can of something open in the kitchen with a hiss and then saw him shuffle past to the bathroom, can of Red Bull in his hand. He waited until the bathroom door shut and broke into muffled laughter. Five years had not changed Dick's stance on mornings. He'd once said "I'd rather face a Joker-Bane hybrid than a morning." A couple times, he'd made them believe it. 

Dick found his way out of the bathroom looking shaved, cleaned, and mostly awake. "Hey Wally. Bathroom's free. When you're done we can go out." 

"I'm done. I've been up since four. Don't give me that look, man, I let you get an entire half-hour of extra sleep... Do you know how hard it is for me to wait half an hour?"

"Whatever. Do you want to take a taxi or my motorcycle?" he asked. 

"I could run there." 

"No you couldn't. You can run around later." 

"Cycle then. You always said you were going to get a Nightwing Cycle."

"Yeah this is a different one. I left the Wing one at the Cave."

"How did one get here?"

"Jason brought it." 

"Oh yeah. You said he came back... How's that?"

"It's complicated. We meet up and get along well enough. Whatever brought him back made him hate Bruce. But he's always willing to help when things get really bad." Dick shrugged. 

"Rough." 

"Ok, Well, let's get breakfast--- I saw there was no pizza left--- We can tell the-"

"Everyone already knows. Word spreads like wildfire in the hero circles."

"Well, we can invite them to lunch then. I'll put an open invitation to anyone who wants to come. My treat." Dick pretty much had to when he saw how pleased Wally was at the other's contacting him. He was thumbing through his texts again. 

"Ok. I invited everyone, and I told them to bring friends. Batman's not going to be too happy." Wally pointed out.

"Word's out. He'd do the same. Gotta roll with the punches." Bruce would get over it. 

They left the building and got to the parking garage. "Helmet, I can't get pulled over with you yet." 

"That'd be hard to explain." Wally followed Dick's lead getting on the motorcycle. 

It was loud, they couldn't really talk. They drove towards the downtown, stopping at a very ordinary restaurant.

Dick had felt Wally's helmet against his back. He looked back and forth as they moved. When they stopped, he said something that startled Dick "Gotham has changed. A lot." They went in

"You'll have to explain that one to me."

"I mean, it's cleaner. I remember I ran through it a few days ago. It's way better. And the buildings are nicer. The roads are nicer." Dick looked around him. He hadn't noticed. Bruce had been dumping as much time and money as ever in it and they both always lamented they couldn't do enough. He didn't see it, really. It'd been gradual. 

"Do me a favor and tell Bruce that sometime." He patted Wally on the back. 

They stepped in. The inside was as ordinary as the outside, but it smelled delicious. 

"The portions here are huge. You'll probably get half of mine." Dick said. 

They ordered. Wally ordered as much as he felt he could get away with. "Wow!" the waitress had explained "That's some appitite you have there"

The food was as good as always. The waitress was an older, chatty lady. Dick tipped well and they left.

"Ok, you need clothes... I am sick of seeing you in mine. Curtains..." Dick was trying to plan their day. Late lunch-early dinner. "Probably... house stuff."

Back on the motorcycle. For a guy who could run anywhere, including straight up walls, Wally made riding difficult. He had no natural ability to balance. He leaned randomly from side to side, looking all around. They stopped at a mall with a parking garage. This area was notably better, which made it a prime place for theft. "Here. Helmet lock." They locked them to the bike and went in.

"Looks like business is good." Wally said. This mall had been more-or-less dead when Wally had last been in this area. 

"Yeah, Bruce bought it up. Put money into it. Basically redid the entire inside.... rented it to local entrupaneurs. He's still not turning a profit for him but a lot of people have work because of it." 

"That's super cool." 

They went from store to store. One benefit of shopping with Wally was that it took him literally no time to try on clothes. He'd gone shopping with Barbera before and it had been an all day affair. 

Wally got all the clothes he thought he could need. Dick made him get a suit despite his protest at stopping and being measured. They found him a couple different pair of shoes, a few specifically for running. The bats swore by leather boots. Synthetic never cut it. 

Wally's phone went off at 2:30 "Where are we meeting everyone? I told them somewhere near the mall." 

"Somewhere nice. There's an Ostkaka Manufactury about half a mile away. We can walk there, get a table. We can just spend the whole evening there."


	5. Reunion

Dinner was in full swing. Everyone had shown up. Everyone. It seemed as though every member of the team had shown up with their mentor. Some popped in for a second to see Wally with their own two eyes and some stayed, had lingered for hours. Wally was making rounds, enjoying the attention. He stole food from people, but no one objected. He was in every way himself. He laughed, delighted in everyone's stories. He danced, despite the lack of music. He touched people, he'd always been a tactile person. And he was very aware everyone was watching him for even the smallest amount of not-being-himself. He wasn't feeling it. It was weird. Everyone was older now. To him it was just a day or two ago everyone had been... younger. They didn't look that different, but they did. They were all just different enough. Deeper voices, slightly taller, slightly calmer, more worldly. Many of them had settled. Many hadn't. 

The night was going smoothly when the meeting-room door opened. A woman walked in. She was pretty. Brown hair. Hazel eyes. Fit. Wally saw Dick run up to her. She must have been in the wrong- nope they were kissing. Wally's eyebrows went up and he found a moment to run up to Dick. 

"Dick, who's this?" he asked, shooting her a wink.

"Wally. Uh... Erika." Dick said. 

"Why wasn't I invited, Dick?" she asked, ignoring him completely. "You've been avoiding me for days."

"Yeah. It's a B thing. Kinda." He said, gesturing with his head to the crowd.

"Wait. Is this THE Wally?" she turned to him. Her mouth hung open in astonishment. 

Wally held a hand out and she jumped away from Dick like he was on fire. She shook his hand but was quiet. 

"So, what do you do, little lady?" he asked, not letting go. We was well aware she was Dick's girl, but he was a natural flirt. Artemis understood. He paused she didn't care anymore. Married. She has someone. He told himself. Erika stood beside Dick, arm going around his hip to hold his far hand. 

"I don't have any power. I don't even approve of Dick's...." she trailed off. It was a touchy point. "How did you.. I mean, you were dead right?"

"Disappeared. We don't know. I was there, then I was flying through Gotham, literally through a building. I don't remember anything." He'd said that sixteen times now. 

"Well. Welcome back." She said. It was awkward. Everyone else here knew him. They meant it. She was looking awkward.

"Ok, so, Dick. Where are you living now? I saw your butler going up and down the halls with your clothes and... things." She asked. She said 'butler' like a curse and her tone held nothing but accusation. 

"I'll show you tonight. After the party. We have to pick up the rest of my 'things' and I'll grab you up too." He said, nudging her shoulder with his own. Wally cringed but tried to turn it into a smile. They looked like a couple trying too hard and he had to wonder if he was crushing an already strained relationship.

Erika stayed long enough to steal one of Dick's spring-rolls and then left. Another hour passed and the waitresses were looking a bit flustered. It was getting late. The crowd was leaving, each one saying bye to Wally and giving him phone numbers, addresses, and emails. 

Wally was laying on the bench booth after the last person left. Dick was trying to help the waitresses. The mess was what anyone would expect form a super hero meeting, and the bill might get him interrogated by the Wayne accountant. He paid. "Wally, get up. We have to grab my things. You're running home."

"I figured. Gotta pick up your girlfriend. I'm not tired." he mumbled and stretched. He wasn't really. Not a work-out tired. He was content. Everyone was mostly whole and healthy. It settled nerves he didn't know he had. 

"Are you up for it?" 

"Yeah, It's cool dude. I'm just stuffed." he patted his stomach with a little tune.

"That's a first." 

Wally rolled up and stood. "Why didn't we get to-go boxes?" he asked. He almost never left a place without something in hand for later. 

"This isn't the kind of place where you get to-go boxes." Dick said. 

Wally and Dick left the store and got on the bike. There was a brief argument, Wally was in a running mood. Wally grudgingly complied, only because he was faster than the bike and he'd have to stop to see where Dick was going. 

They pulled out of the parking garage and stopped. Wally had his head rested against Dick's back and only looked up when they didn't move any further. Dick was looking up. Something was happening in the sky. 

"Who is that?" Wally said, squinting in the dark. "Is that Superman and Fate?" 

"Yeah. Looks like they're arguing." 

"That can't be a coincidence. Think they were gonna come to my party?" 

"I think Superman can hear you. Probably Fate too." Dick said. Dick waved with a smirk in case they were looking and pulled out. Both flew off when as they disappeared into the city.

They pulled into the apartment complex Dick lived in. Classic Bludhaven. It was old, shitty, slummy. It was bad. They went upstairs. The apartment was mostly empty. Alfred had taken everything important out and had the furniture scrapped or given away. Dick had pretty much known that. he went to the back wall and opened it up. Just a small amount of his equipment remained. "Rest of it must be at the cave." he grabbed the things and his gymbag. "Anyway, you wanted to know where I've been living and why I moved? This is why." He said. As if timed, a drip of water from the apartment above fell on Wally's head." Wally zipped around the place.

"Wow. This is a... shit hole. There is no other word for it. Why are you living here?"

"Bruce and I had a fight. I said I couldn't protect people living so far removed from them. I could have moved somewhere close but better.... I pretty much picked this place to spite him. I've been robbed like four times." Dick laughed. There was a knock. "That's Erika."

He opened the door and she came in. "So this is it? You're leaving?" She asked. 

"Yeah. Wally's running home with my things, we'll ride the cycle." 

"What, dude? Why do I have to?" Wally whined. He wasn't complaining, just being annoying. 

"I'll give you my keys when you leave my new place and you can give them to the landlord next week. I'm paid up this week. The place is cleaned out." he shrugged. Erika frowned but nodded. Dick could be so blind. Wally could see her reaction. She wasn't happy. She was... now that he thought about it... exactly the way Artemis got when he took up the odd superhero gig. He'd gotten out of it, in large part, because of her. Was he going to get back in the game? 

"Ok, well you two kiss the drippy ceiling goodbye, I'm going to head back to the house, take your time." he ran around Dick, got the keys from his pocket, separated the cycle keys and was gone with a small gust of air.

Erika scoffed "That has to be annoying for the guys below." She hit her heel loudly into the floor.

Wally made it back to the house in no time flat. It felt good. Without Dick there to talk him out of it, he ran from Gotham. He ran through some countryside, he ran as far as he thought he could go and then turned around and went back. 

When he got home Dick and Erika were being loud. Not the good, but disturbing kind of loud. 

"So what, you've had to take some kind of pet superhero project on top of patrolling all night and being a police office. You might as well go live with the bat. When are you going to have any time for-"

Wally felt it was a good time to break it up. "Hey, sorry about that. I felt so good after I got here I went for a jog. I'm whipped." he plopped down on the couch, head on Erika's lap. She screached and stood up to go sit beside Dick on the love seat. Mission success. 

"So, how'd you two lovebirds meet? Did he save you from the villain of the week?" Wally asked.

"No. He moved in next door. Our two year is coming up." she said. She blushed a bit. "We never even talked until he got stabbed and accidentally climbed in my bedroom window. Spandex." She clarified, smiling now.

Wally laughed. "He used to get me in all kinds of bizarre situations. I remember once-" "Wally, no. Please." "We were in the cave and... How old were we?" "Wally. Stop." Dick stood up and charged him. He threw him back to the loveseat where he landed sprawled over Erika. "I think he had just turned 12 and was saying 'Soon, I'll be able to drive the Batmobile.' and we climbed in to goof off and got locked in." "That was your fault, Wally." "Seven hours. He left us in there seven hours. He knew." 

"He just left you there?" 

"Yeah. He woulda left it longer but I threatened to---" "Wally, seriously, that doesn't need repeated" "I'm just saying, I eat a lot." 

"Oh Ew." Erika said. 

Wally called up every fun heroing story he could. If the heroing was the problem, he could fix it. They talked, they drank a bit. Erika asked to see Dick's room. He left them to it and relaxed. He stepped onto the roof-slash-balcony Conner had lept from earlier. He stared at the sea of lights that was Gotham. It sparkled at night. It was also stuffed to bursting with pain and suffering, but if you didn't think about that, it was every bit as beautiful as Central City. He turned to go back inside. There was a blinding light and he saw his faint reflection vanish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok. Now it will start picking up.


	6. White

"Damn voicemail." Wally groaned. He heard his phone making that lightning bolt noise. It could wait. 

He cracked his eyes open a little bit despite himself and realized it was really, really bright here. He went to stand and realized he couldn't move and that he wasn't actually laying down and that there was nothing around him at all. He was swimming in bright. A voice he barely remembered spoke.

"Who are you?" it sounded like two voices bouncing off one another. Distinct yet blended. 

"It's me. Wally. Fate. I know your voice." He said, trying to struggle. 

"How did you find Gotham?" He asked.

"I don't know, dude. I was there and then I was in Gotham." He paused "Do you know something about that?" 

"That's none of your con-"

"Hell it's not! What happened to me?"

"I am trying to figure that out." Fate appeared in front of him. Wally felt as though he was being looked right into. Fate just floated there impassively. They were silent for a long time. How long was literally impossible to determine. Nothing moved. There was no wind. His phone made that noise again. It became his clock, sort of. Six times. Seven times. Eight times. 

"Fate, buddy, you know me. I was in your... you were in my... we have a bond. Not sure how it works but it was definitely something." he said. Nine times or was that ten? "Look, someone's really eager to talk to me. Can I get this?" He asked. 

Fate flew around to his back and he couldn't even begin to struggle to see what he was doing. He felt a hand on his spine. "Not cool, dude." He felt an unusal electricity in every nerve. "What are you doing."

"You are Wally West. I can't determine how you got displaced in time." 

"So what do you know?" 

"Because you were a previous wearer of my helmet, I was alerted to your becoming hyper energized." Fate's voice was somewhere to his left now, which was a bit mortifying as the man came around his right side. "I attempted to teleport you out of the situation. I had assumed I failed." If he didn't know better, he'd think Fate sounded remorseful. 

The examination, or whatever it was, felt far more intrusive than it was. Fate spent long periods of time, sometimes ten or fifteen voice-mails, staring at him. It was as close as he could get to counting minutes.

The voice-mails stopped for a period of time, he thought. Then there were four. Wally stopped begging to be let go. And then, he was. There was another light. He was back on the balcony. It was night. Late night. A mushy black pile of snow had built up beside the lip of the balcony. He was home, anyway. 

He looked out at the city, which appeared to be recovering from a winter that hadn't yet happened when he left. He pulled his his phone. It was four months later. He had fifty voice-mails.

First unheard message - "Wally where are you. I'm at the house and you're not here."

Third unheard message - "Hey, the only reason I know I'm not crazy is that this number works. Where the hell are you?"

Seventh unheard message - "Wally, you're ruining my life now. Where the fuck are you? Shut up, Bruce, I'm a grown-ass man and I'll say wha-" 

Tenth unheard message - "Wally, I just need someone to talk to. Mostly you. I don't know what to do with myself. I was so glad you were back and then you were gone. I've been literally all over the world looking for you. Erika left me. I lost my job. I don't even know what to do with myself." 

Eleventh unheard message - "Shit. Bruce. I should be able to get in and delete that last one." "It's been months. He's not going to hear it anyway. Why not just disconnect the line?" "I can't do that. What if he shows up in the middle of the ocean or Egypt or something."

Wally sprinted into the house, ripping the door open. This was wrong. He kept the phone to his ear, listening to Dick's descent.

Thirty-first unheard message - "I don't even know why I keep calling. I'm only keeping the line so I can talk to you. I have nothing left. I'm forbidden from patrol. As it turns out I can grow a beard and-" 

Wally found six Almond Joy in the cabinet. The dust on the package said that no one had been here in a long time. Had he moved out? All their stuff was still here. Wally was glad his key still worked as he rushed out the door.

Fiftieth unheard message - "This is number fifty. Your voice-mail will be full. Come back to me dude." 

Wally ran towards the Manor and found himself standing, awkwardly at the front door. He paused before knocking, raised his hand and the door opened. Dick was standing there, looking like he'd just had really good sex or a really bad ass-kicking. His hair was longer than ever, raggedy, and he had obviously been wearing that shirt for a few days. Behind him Bruce, Alfred and Tim were watching them silently. 

"I got your voicemail." Wally said after a good long while. Dick stepped out, forcing him back and shut the door. He took a deep breath, sniffed, and clocked Wally in the jaw. Wally found himself spiraling back. Dick ran to him. "Shit. What was that for?"

Dick stood over him and nudged him with his foot. Didn't bother to get up as the front door opened again. 

"I've had that dream dozens of times. Honestly, I thought you were going to just disappear." Dick sounded defeated as he squat down beside Wally. "So you're really back?" 

"Seems so. I was somewhere with Doctor Fate. I could hear your voice mails coming in. I was using them to count time." Wally stayed laying. His face hurt, not that anyone would be surprised to hear it. They sat in silence a minute before Bruce came over. 

"I need to run some tests."

"I need to find Fate." Wally said, finally sitting up and pushing Dick off balance as payback. His jaw hurt, but it was healing. 

"You won't. Fate took off the helmet around the same time you disappeared. Zatara showed up at League HQ two days after you were last seen." Bruce said. He offered a hand to each of them. Wally looked at Dick. He stood, hunched over and rubbing his face. 

"You look like shit." Wally said. Bruce gave him a look. He got the message, don't go there. "Let's go inside. No tests though. I'm exhausted. I'm not sure, but I think I haven't slept in four months."

Alfred took over, Bruce walked Dick to his room, talking lowly. 

"Hey, Alf." he almost stopped, then he realized where Bruce learned the look. "-red. Dick's not been doing so hot." It wasn't a question.

"He's been troubled since your last disappearance." Alfred said, opening a bedroom door. 

"Bathroom's through there?" he asked. He wanted a shower. He also wanted food and sleep but, as fast as he was... He couldn't do all three. Or could he? 

"It is indeed." Alfred said. "I'll bring breakfast around in the morning. Unless you-"

"Nah. It's cool. I have four candy bars left." he said, pulling them out of his candy storage. 

Alfred looked like he wanted to say something about it not being a proper dinner but he simply wished him good night and left. Wally turned the shower on and stripped. He climbed in and spun around, trying to get completely soaked. Then he reached for a candy bar. It started to melt in the hot water but he really didn't care at all. He was taking his time, a rarity. After four months, a shower and some candy was like good sex. 

He felt a buzzing around him. "No!" He called. "No! No no no nonononononononono" and a bright light. He was floating again. 

"Fate! Where the hell are you? Why are you doing this? This is kidnapping. You're ruining my life. Don't you care?"

Fate stared at him. Zatara supposedly wasn't in the helmet anymore, but the body looked the same. Where were they? "I'm not kidnapping you. I'm catching you."


	7. Back and Forth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry. It's not over.

Wally looked at Fate. The staring was unnerving. Wally tried to match him. The man didn't have an actual body. He didn't blink. Wally had no such luck. Everything about the situation made him uncomfortable. 

"Ok, Fate, I'm still covered in chocolate water." He let the words fall out and his mouth and then wanted to suck them back in. "Could you magic up some water to... I dunno" He sighed. Fate did some motions and he was doused in far-too-hot water. Then his unspoken request was answered. He was wrapped in white. He wasn't sure it was cloth, but he was sure he wasn't completely naked now. 

They were quiet for a while. "What do you mean, catching me?"

"You're still far too energized. I thought I had corrected the problem when I sent you back." There was a long stretch of silence. "I am working on a more permanent solution." More silence. He was going mad. He didn't even have his phone now.

"Can you get me back before morning?" He didn't want Dick to worry.

Fate disappeared briefly. "It's July." 

"Send me back. Now. Right now." 

"I cannot." Fate said.

"Why are you even doing this?" 

"As a previous wearer of the Helmet, you are granted certain protections." He said. 

"I give it up. What do I have to do? Spend a certain amount of energy every hour or... I dunno. Stop eating? I mean there has to be some way to manage it."

Fate stared at him, probably for a couple more months. "Zatara has created a monitor you can wear. It will examine the energy levels and give you some advanced warning. If you forfiet my aid, you will have only this to keep yourself existant." 

"Fine. I need to get back. I am smart. I can figure it out and.... just make it work until then." Wally said. Fate blinked out of and into his view again. He felt warm all over. The white around his legs, arms and torso had turned blue. A large gold something appeared on his chest.

"Thanks, Fate. I really do appreciate you keeping me from... dying. But I have to get back. I've already missed so much." Fate just stared at him. The white light faded and he found himself back in the shower. It was different now. The water was off. It was dark. The entire shower had been wired up with cameras, microphones, gauges, and measuring devices. He righted himself. He heard footsteps coming down the hall. The door flew open and Dick might as well have flown into the room.

"I'm going to kill you. Where the hell did you go?" Dick, having nothing else to grab onto, got ahold of the golden arms of his newest accessory.

"Whoa dude, let me put some clothes on." He pushed Dick away. Bruce walked into the room. Naked in front of Batman. He glanced down for shrinkage. Naked and cold in front of Batman. 

Batman walked around him. He didn't dare move.

"Fate reappeared three days ago." 

"Yeah, he... I made him let me go."

"What is this" even Batman didn't know what to call it. Instead of the confused look that would have been on anyone else's face, Batman just stood there as though that was all he meant to say. 

"Look, all Fate said we he was catching me. Something about me having too much energy. This is supposed to monitor the energy and make sure I don't disappear again." 

"How does it function?" 

"I have no idea. Zatara made it."

"You didn't ask." Not a question.

"Nope." Wally felty stupid. Properly, completely stupid. He turned to find the mirror. It was heavy, gold. It covered his shoulders like armor and came to a point front.... and back. He turned around, contorting himself. "I'll know when it starts doing something, I guess."

"You're coming to the cave for testing." Again, not a question. 

"Can I get dressed?"

"No. You're evidence now." 

Batman lead him to the cave. He saw a small head and heard a cackle as he passed a room. New Robin? That kind of worried Wally. 

Batman ran every scan he could think of and then called in Superman. 

He heard them speaking in the other room. "I want you to see if there is anything measurable my scans didn't pick up." Made sense, Superman had a super-vision for everything. 

He pulled his knees up to his chest as they walked in. "You couldn't have let him get dressed?" Superman asked, obviously disapproving.

"No. It might disrupt any residual energy left on him."

"He was loathe to let me sit down." Wally said. He had come to accept that the less he complained, the faster they'd get done.

Superman gave him an apologetic look and started staring at him. 

"The metal is odd. Even in well-crafted pieces, I can usually see where it's been welded. And it's not gold." Superman walked around his back and tried to slide his fingers under the device. 

"It's acting as a siphon." Batman said. 

"I can see that. I also see. Is this connec--- Bruce, we have to talk." Superman paused for a moment, dead serious. 

"Yes, it is-"

"Yes it is what?" Wally asked, suddenly worried.

"It's connected to your spine." 

Wally gaped a moment. "Wow... Way to ripthe bandaidoff whatdoyoumeanmyspine?" Thhe words tumbled from his mouth. 

"The skin has already healed around the entry point. It's connected to your spine, which is acting as an energy conduit for whatever Fate was trying to stop."

Superman frowned. "I'm going to try to find Fate. Maybe I can get more info out of him." 

Batman nodded.

"So what, I can't take this off? Ever? There's no way at all?" 

"Not unless we can find Fate and resolve the energy problem." 

"Great."

"You can get dressed now." Alfred walked in just as he said that with a small pile of clothes. They were set on the bench next to him and Wally was dressed before they had a chance to turn their backs.

"Can I also get some food? I've starving. Fate is a horrible host, except the whole... I mean... he makes sure I don't die somehow." 

"I've already delivered dinner to your room." Wally smiled, thanked him and was up the stairs before they could respond.

Dick was there, sitting on the bed, picking at the plates of food. 

"Alfred's always on top of things, huh?" Wally asked.

"That's one of Bruce's shirts." Dick said. It looked bizarre on him.

"Yeah. This thing doesn't come off. I never realized he was so big..." He picked at the shirt around his waist where it was hanging loosely. 

Dick chuckled. "Babs used to wear his shirts as dresses. Seriously. She'd find one of his nice shirts, put it on... add a belt. She'd go out wearing it." 

"I could do that." The shirt was down to mid-thigh, anyway. 

"Oh God." 

Wally stood before the food "Get what you want and then get out of the way." Dick grabbed a donut and did just that, sliding to the other side of the bed. Wally inhaled the food and fell limpy on the bed. "Ow! Shit." He had landed on the gold thing. Dick helped him roll onto his side. "That's gonna be a pain." 

"But it's keeping you alive?" 

"Yeah." 

"And you're not gonna disappear again?"

"Never."


	8. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing a new character properly.

The next day saw a whole battery of tests. He was given more food than he could imagine all morning. As it turned out, he could eat endlessly and he was endlessly hungry, more than usual. They found the device was siphoning off energy as fast as his body could produce it. Bruce calculated that it left just enough for him to survive on and no more. He whined when they took all the food away. Dick showed solidarity by fasting with him, but eight hours for a normal person was nothing. Wally felt like he was being tortured. He sighed and flopped around his room, careful not to disturb the measuring stickies and wires that fed the computer information.

"This is horrible." He whined at hour nine. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"He's just seeing how well the--- thing adapts. We need to come up with a name for it."

"Well, Scarab is taken." Wally said. "And beetle."

"Pretty sure the inspiration is the same. Skeetle?" Dick offered

"I can't see Batman approving. And there's already Skeets. "

"Everything he owns is a bat pun, it's not that far-fetched. Barab? It's a palindrome." 

"I do like palindromes." Wally agreed but he wasn't convinced. 

"How about The Bug?"

"It's easy to remember. It feels a bit like a bug on me. Or a backpack." He poked at where the arms of the device went over his shoulders and connected to other arms around his waist like a belt. "I wonder if they'll be able to get the Bug off me."

"They said it's fused to your bone." Dick said. 

"I know..."

"And it's keeping you from disappearing."

"I know." 

They lapsed into silence. 

"At least it's low profile." Dick said.

"Only because it spent all night burrowing into my skin." It had sunk or merged or fused itself to him and sat three inches shallower than the night before. He was concerned it would disappear into his body entirely. 

"Yeah but you can wear your own clothes now." 

"I still can't lay on my back. I rolled onto it four times last night. Hurt, a lot." 

"You'll just have to change how you sleep." 

"Easier said than done."

They sat back for another hour, Wally flopping on the bed between his stomach and his side. Bruce came in. He was wearing a fresh track suit and had a towel over his shoulders. "Come on. I have one last test." 

Wally groaned and stood. He'd learned earlier not to actually complain. Bruce allowed groaning, so long as action accompanied the sound, but he was very strict where actual complaints were concerned. It may have come with the fact that most his company had been children for the past fifteen years. It may have just been that he didn't care. Either way, they descended into the Batcave. Bruce lead him to a treadmill. 

"What, no. I'm starving." Wally said when he saw it. 

Bruce, giving the Batman glare, turned to him. Alfred came down the stairs to announce dinner in an hour, as though he had been waiting at the top to time it perfectly. 

"Once you start, the speed will increase to three hundred miles an hour- well within your capabilities. You'll maintain that speed until I have the information I need." Bruce held up those horrible sticky pads with the wires. Wally let them be applied. He was glad to see a bottle of water, since he hadn't been allowed to drink anything before. He got on the treadmill and started it, grabbing up the water before it could be taken from him. 

The speed wasn't so bad. He was just so hungry. He was running on nothing, but somehow as always kept going. The hour passed slowly and he ran the entire time. Everything hurt by the time they were done and Alfred announced dinner. Bruce put the tredmill into neutral and let Wally slow himself. He took the fastest shower of his life and rushed upstairs three minutes later. The table was absolutely laden with food. It was amazing the table didn't buckle under it all. Wally gave Alfred a hug as he ran by, ruffling the immaculate suit he always wore. "I love you." He said before sitting down. Everyone else was already sitting. Near Bruce, the new Robin he hadn't met yet was looking grumpy. 

"I can go on patrol." He protested. 

"No." was all Bruce said.

"Yes." The kid said in the exact same tone. 

Bruce glared at him and he glared back. It was like looking Bruce was looking in a younger, tanner mirror. Wally had only had a glimpse of the kid out of costume until now. He had stuck to his room or the cave. 

"I don't trust him. How do we know he's not a spy?" The kid said loudly. 

"I'm not a spy!" "He's not a spy!" He shouted at the same time as Dick. 

"You wouldn't know. You're an idiot, Grayson." The kid said.

"Stop." Bruce said, irritably. The tone he used would have stopped a rampaging Killer Croc cold in his tracks. 

The kid didn't let up. "If something even remotely Kid Flash-like had shown up, you would welcome it into your b-"

Bruce stood up and picked the child up by his upper arm with a painful grip. The kid kicked at Bruce's back, twisting in his grip and displaying every bit as much flexibility and strength as Dick had ever had. They heard the kid protesting loudly and Bruce's heavy steps all the way up the stairs. 

"That's Damian. He's Bruce's." 

"Like.. Bruce's kid?" He still felt weird saying Bruce to refer to the man who had been Batman his entire life. But they used real names upstairs and code names downstairs. It was probably a good habit if he was going to be sticking around, but it always made him nervous. Like he'd be chastised for it.

"Is he always that rough with him?"

"Pretty much. The kid was raised by the League of Assassins until a year ago. He's strong, and bullheaded. Single minded..."

"Not to mention they look exactly the same." 

"If you want to piss him off, tell him that. I can't promise he won't kill you though. He swears he takes after his gramps." Dick said. 

They continued eating as Bruce returned. "He's not going on patrol. He's to be in his room all night." Dick was apparently the enforcer of the house. 

"Not even in the training room?"

"If you hear him doing anything besides sitting quietly in his room, you'll contact me." 

Apparently that was some kind of punishment. Wally decided he was going to befriend the kid. If nothing else, it'd annoy him, and Wally felt he was fast enough to stay out of harm's way. 

They finished the meal. Bruce went to the cave with only a few words and apparently went out for the night. 

"Does that man ever sleep?"

"When Alfred drugs him." 

"Seriously?"

"Actually, usually he catches a few in the late afternoon and evening, after work and before patrol. He doesn't usually make us all sit down for dinner." 

"Do you still go on patrol?"

"What does that mean?" 

"Just, you look rough. I wasn't going to say anything..." 

"I had a rough spell. You disappeared, my girlfriend left, you reappeared and disappeared again, I lost my job."

"Sorry."

"Wasn't your fault... The police station became completely corrupt. Worse than ever. They think I fled to Alaska." 

They got quiet again. Alfred came in and made a plate before Wally finished cleaning them out. He took it upstairs to Damian. 

"Does Alfred do the mid-afternoon nap thing too?"

"I have no idea. As far as I'm concerned the man's a wizard." Dick laughed. "When I first got here and realized he did the Batman thing with Bruce, I was afraid of him. He made me paranoid. I never heard him coming, I never saw him eat or sleep. Still haven't. He does Christmas with us, and a few other holidays, or when Bruce demands it. Otherwise..."

"And he drugs Batman. I bet he has huge cajon---" Alfred walked through the door and Wally wondered if someday he'd learn to pluck things he regretted saying straight out of the air. He shooed them out so he could clear the table and refused any offer of help. 

"Come on, let's go annoy Damian." Wally said. 

"Not a good idea." 

They went upstairs and knocked on the door. 

"Go away." came a loud voice that sounded both authoritative and petulant at the same time. "I am indisposed."

Dick snickered and knocked again. 

"I said, Go. Away."

"We thought you could use come company."

"Fuck off, Grayson." 

"I'll tell Bruce you said that." he shouted through the door. Wally moved for the handle, but Dick stopped him. He pushed him back from the door and knocked again. Just once, very fast. As he pulled his hand away, three inches of knife came through the door where his knock had been. Dick knocked a different part of the door. Another knife. 

He used both hands to knock the door randomly. Almost as soon as his hand was pulled away, a knife came through each place. 

"Does he keep a whole arsenal in there?" 

"Basically." 

He turned the door handle, but heard a clunk from the other side. The nob was stuck. 

"Damian. Alfred's going to kill you." 

"No he won't. He'll just replace the door. And it's your fault." 

"You'll have a hard time proving that." 

Dick pulled a small tool out of his pocket and pried the doorknob out of the door. The door was already ruined so the large gouge in it didn't really matter. 

He stood to the side of the door, ready to push it open. He motioned for Wally to step back against the wall and pushed the door. Three knives flew through the door and across the hall. "So, Damian. Bored yet?" 

"Leave. Me. Alone. Grayson." Damian was at a small drafting table working with charcoals. His small fingers were smeared with black and grey where he'd smudged them. Wally decided to run around to sneak a peak. It was as though Damian had predicted his movements. He caught Wally's thigh with a knife he had out. 

"Ow. Damn!" Wally said, as he topped to the ground. It was a shallow cut, but it had taken him completely off guard. 

"Stop whining. If I were seriously trying to hurt you, I would have taken the leg." 

"Damn, kid. I just wanted to see what you were working on." 

"Without my permission. If you'd asked, I may have let you see. But you ran by, obviously, you don't care to get my permission." He said primly as though he hadn't just cut someone.

"Can I see?" Dick asked. 

"No." He put the sketch pad away in the desk and locked it. 

"How'd you even do that?" Wally asked. "I should have been moving so fas-"

"You're utterly predictable. I'm starting to believe you are who you say you are. I've read your file." 

"Predictable." 

"You're a speedster, you only have your speed going for you. I-" Dick finished the sentence with Damian "trained with the League of Assassin's since I was an infant. Fuck you, Grayson." 

"Let me guess, you're off patrol duty for your foul mouth?"

"No. Apparently almost killing a rapist is too close to actually killing him." Damian said bitterly. "Father's standards are ludacris. I maintain that if we killed them, we could actually clean up Gotham. He could have had the world, you know." 

"What's that mean?" Wally asked.

"We won't go into that." Dick interrupted as Damian started to take a deep breath. The kind of breath that told you a kid intended to talk without stopping until they'd said their piece or passed out. 

"Leave. Now." Damian said, deflating. "I've grown tired of you." 

"Fine, We'll go. We were going to let you out of here and not tell Bruce."

"We were?"

"I was. I wanted to show him off." 

"How would you show me off? You've had nothing to do with my development as a warrior."

"How old is he again?" Wally asked.

"I'm ten." He said, his tone self important.

"Going on thirty." Dick finished. 

"Get. Out." Damian's chair flew across the room and Dick barely dodged. 

They left the room quickly before any more furniture went flying.

"He has a short temper."

"Eh. You used to be cocky too. Not so violent, but I see a resemblance." 

"Take that back." 

"Not even kidding. Does he do that creepy laugh you do?"

"No. We tried to get him to do it but he just..."

"Threw something at you?" 

"The better part of a motorcycle engine." 

They laughed and went back to Dick's room. "I think I'll befriend him. Come on, everyone loves the Wall-Man." 

"Not him. He hates everyone."

"Doubt that. I'm going to try. Without you.... antagonizing."

Dick caught him up on recent events and they went to bed. He didn't get near enough sleep before Batman was waking him up. Something about the data being processed.

"I know what's happening to you."


End file.
